The Awkward Otaku
by ohmygodthecringe
Summary: Leah Fay comes to Japan to live with her cousin Tamaki Suoh for an entire year, while her father is away in a business trip. She is his polar opposite, and when the Host club members meet her they can't believe someone as introverted and quiet as her is related to someone as loud and flamboyant as their King. Will she catch the interest of a certain impassive-faced boy?
1. Chapter 1

**_"Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start now and make a brand new ending." -Carl Bard._**

I stood in silence as my father spoke to me in a grave manner.

"You're going to stay at your cousin's mansion while I'm away in my year-long business trip. You are also to attend the same school as him. When you return, I expect you to be the capable, proper, adequate young woman your mother was. Have I made myself clear?" My gaze was fixated on my shoes, but even without looking at my father I could tell that he was glaring at me coldly.

"Yes sir," I said in a monotone voice. Without another word, he left my room so that I could start packing. When I heard his footsteps fade away, I glanced around the walls of my room. There wasn't a single, empty space on them; on every available spot, I had hung up a poster from an anime. Some were new, some were old, but nonetheless faces of characters with colorful hair and unusual eyes were staring at me from all angles. Numerous figurines rested on my shelves, and my bookcases were filled with manga books.

Sighing, I dragged out my suitcases to fill them with my belongings. Charcoal meowed. I walked over to my cat and snuggled the black, ball of fluff in my arms; I sat down on my bed holding him close to me.

My name is Leah Fay, and tomorrow I will be flying to Japan where I will stay at my cousin's house for a whole year, attending the same school as him. Why am I going? Because my father is going away again. He's always gone from home anyway, so I'm always taking care of myself. But even so, he decided that I can't be left alone for an entire year. He contacted his brother in law, my uncle, a week ago and everything was arranged for me to live in Japan for an entire year. My cousin's name is Tamaki Suoh; he is my mother's sister's son. I have never met my auntie before, but I do know that she was my mother's identical twin. Charcoal jumped out of my arms, and left the room. Walking over to my clothes drawer, I started to fill the bags with everything I needed.

After packing for hours, I filled up about four, huge, suitcases with clothes and other necessities(cough manga cough). I pushed up my red glasses since they had slid down a bit, and I looked into the mirror, finding my boring reflection staring back. Long blonde hair, brown eyes, blah blah blah. My father always complained about me being too small and skinny; I had a very child-like physique and face, making me look like I was just starting Middle School when really I was a second year in High School. I sighed, and wondered what my life would be like in a different country. Sure, I've always wanted to go to Japan being the weeaboo and Otaku I was...but...I wasn't excited strangely enough. On other days, I would've been jumping up and down, squealing with joy after knowing that I finally get to visit the country all anime fans wanted to visit. I even learned how to speak fluent Japanese three years ago just in case I got the chance to go. But instead of feeling overjoyed, I felt so...empty. Crashing onto my bed, I looked up at my ceiling. Soon enough, I started drifting away into a deep sleep.

The Next Day...

I scanned the sea of faces that bustled around me. Voices merged into one buzz, and the noise intensified the headache that I was having. Feeling as if the ground wobbled beneath me, I almost fell forward. The entire world seemed to be just one, colorful blur. Nauseous, I had to take a couple of breaths to prevent myself from puking. The airplane ride was a nightmare. A fat,(I have nothing against obese people)bald guy slept on my shoulder for the whole plane ride. He snored and drooled, and no matter how hard I pushed him away, he wouldn't budge. When he woke up, he apologized of course but that didn't change the fact that my right shoulder was dripping with drool and devoid of any sensation. I spent around thirty minutes in the bathroom of the airport getting cleaned up. Luckily, I had a small backpack with me full of emergency items and other necessities(manga). I threw the drool-drenched shirt away.

Shuddering at the horrible memory, I cautiously walked to the luggage area, trying my best to avoid any physical contact with the other people. Some people would glance at me curiously for a few, brief moments, but then they would dismiss me and carry on with their business. I was dressed normally. I was wearing a pink hoodie with bunny ears, matching comfy sweatpants, sneakers, and a white, bunny-shaped backpack. I also wore my hair normally: in pigtails. My appearance wasn't any different from any other day.

I believe my cousin, Tamaki, was informed the other day which luggage area I was supposed to be at. While I stared at the moving pile of luggage, searching for mine, I heard several male voices. They sounded pretty young, maybe one of the voices belonged to my cousin? Just as I was about to walk to the other side of the airport's baggage claim, I saw a head appear.

I saw one, no two! Three! Four?! Boys sitting where luggage would normally be, moving along idly amongst other bags and suitcases. My mouth dropped open, and I watched the ridiculously handsome teens come closer to me as the luggage carrier continued moving.

"Are you my cousin?" A blonde boy looked at another blonde girl who was a little far from me. She shook her head shyly, and blushed. He turned his head in my direction. He was inching closer towards me, a trail of boys sitting behind him.

"Are you my cousin?" He asked. I gaped at him a little bit, but answered when he was right in front of me.

"Tamaki?" I asked in Japanese. My cousin's violet eyes lit up, and he immediately lurched up: he had jumped towards me. Eyes widening, I tried to back away but I wasn't fast enough.

"LEEAAAHHHHH!" His arms wrapped themselves around me into a suffocating hug, and his lean body was pressing against me, pushing me backwards. My face buried into his chest and my feet losing balance, I felt myself falling backwards, and down, down, down. When I crashed into the hard floor, a sharp pain shot up my head, and I saw bright stars, then nothing but blackness.

"I'm such a horrible cousin! What have I done?! What if Leah never wakes up?!" I can't move, ugh. Whose voice was that? It's so loud and annoying. I was resting on something soft.

"Boss, you could've been more gentle," another boy's voice said.

Wait...where am I? Am I still at the airport? Forcing one eye to open, a bright light blinded me. As my one eye adjusted to the light, I opened my other eye. A face stared down at me, and it was etched with worry and relief.

"You're awake!" I was immediately picked up and dragged into another tight hug. My head was pounding. I winced and took a sharp intake of a breath, and the boy released me.

"I'm so sorry! I got so excited and-"

I placed my hand over his mouth so he'd stop talking. Hey, they were soft. Wait what?! I jerked my hand away suddenly, and looked around me. Seven, handsome faces were staring back at me. My eyes widened.

I jumped off of Tamaki, only to almost lose my balance again. Someone caught me, but he felt like a rock. Looking up, I saw a stoic-faced, spikey-haired boy towering over me.

I stumbled away from him, and my eyes frantically darted around, looking for a safe place for me to hide.

"I'm your cousin, Tamaki!" The blonde boy stood up.

"I'm so sorry I accidentally crushed you earlier! I didn't realize what I had done until I got off of you only to find that you had fainted..." he smiled sheepishly.

"B-but w-who are these p-people?" I sputtered nervously.

"These are my friends! We all are part of a Host club!" I suddenly remembered the headache I was having, but it had worsened. Shutting my eyes and groaning, I felt my legs give away. Before I could slump down onto the ground, a pair of strong arms held me up.

"Are you alright?" A deep voice said. I shook my head for no.

"We should stop by at the hospital to make sure Ms. Fay didn't receive a concussion from the impact from earlier," another boy's voice said.

"I'm so sorry dear cousin! I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you! Just don't hate me!" Tamaki's strident voice exclaimed dramatically.

"Just buy me cake and I'll be happy..." I grumbled. With my eyes still sealed shut, I was clutching my head, trying to block out the pain.

"You like cake too Leah-chan?" A, child's? voice said to me. Opening my eyes, I couldn't see anything but blurry faces, so I shut my eyes again to avoid increasing the migraine I was having. The stoic boy who had been holding me then picked me up, carrying me bridal style. Tearing my eyes open, I stared at him in panic.

"Ah! I c-can walk!" I tried kicked my legs a bit, but he didn't put me down.

"Gentlemen! To the limo! We must get Leah to the hospital as soon as possible!" Tamaki started running out of the airport, screaming "Charge!" and his friends running after him. This drew the attention of almost anyone. I was too confused to be embarrassed, and my cries of complaint were drowned out.

I closed my eyes for most of the limo ride, I couldn't focus on anything because of the sharp, pounding agony my head was feeling. The people didn't really talk much, one particularly calm voice told everyone to keep the noise level down. I think the person's name was...Haruhi? Anyways, I leaned on what I think was the window for the entire car/limo ride to the hospital. I thought I heard a couple whispers from Tamaki and the others about my appearance. Most of the whispers sounded something like: "She looks so cute! She dresses like a commoner!" or "She looks kinda nerdy!"

At the hospital, I laid down for a little bit on one of the beds after being examined by a doctor, and I was given some pain medication. My head had developed a small bump that would last a week or two, but otherwise everything was fine. I was holding an ice pack to my head while sitting on a hospital bed. A knock erupted on the door.

"It's occupied-I MEAN OPEN!" My face turned red. Darn it. The door opened, and a pretty boy with head full of blonde hair and purple eyes peeked out.

"Can we come in?" Asked my cousin.

"Er...yeah," I shifted, growing uncomfortable. Seven teenagers, including Tamaki walked in and surrounded me. I was red-faced and looking at the ground. I was not used to all this attention, especially if it came from a bunch of attractive looking guys. Actually, I hated attention in general. It was already super awkward for me to talk to the doctor.

"I'm so glad you're not seriously hurt! I promise I will make it up to you!" said Tamaki. He was about to glomp on me again but a boy in glasses stopped him.

"You shouldn't bother Leah or rough-handle her until the bump on her head is all gone. You're lucky she didn't get a concussion you know," Tamaki looked dejected by the boy's words, but he backed off.

"I believe we haven't properly introduced ourselves, I am Kyoya Ootori." The raven-haired boy that had stopped Tamaki gave me a cool smile, and the light reflected off of his glasses, giving them the "anime" effect. Hey, he looked like that one character from an otome game I've played before...Uki Doki Memorial's Doppleganger? Yeah! That was the one...

"We are the Hitachiins," two identical boys with Phoenix colored hair and golden eyes appeared to my right.

"I'm Hikaru," the twin with the lower voice said.

"And I'm Kaoru," said the second twin.

"I'm Haninozuka, but you can call me Honey. And this is Takashi! But a lot of people call him Mori. Do you want some cake Leah-chan?" I turned to my left, and saw a little boy who was smiling up at me sweetly.

"I'm Haruhi Fujioka, nice to meet you. And I'm sorry about Tamaki, he can get a little too overbearing." A brunette who seemed about two inches shorter than me said. Haruhi? Isn't that a girl's name? Wait a second! Where's my luggage?!

"AH!" I lurched off of the hospital bed, and frantically tried to exit the room. Tamaki blocked me of course.

"Where are you going?" He asked, confused and a little hurt.

"My luggage! It's still at the airport!" A look of panic washed over Tamaki's face, matching my own expression.

"Ah! What do we do!? What do we do?!" He started jumping up and down in panic, and I mirrored his behavior.

"All of my clothes are in there! And other valuable belongings!"

"Kyoya!" Tamaki looked at the glasses-wearing boy frantically.

"Don't worry about it, I'll contact the airport and have them retrieve Leah's belongings," Kyoya adjusted his glasses as he made a phone call in a blink of the eye. I looked at him in anticipation as he made the phone call. After a brief moments, he hung up.

"I've arranged for some workers to drop them off at Tamaki's mansion," I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, almost at the exact same time Tamaki did.

"That's such a relief! I knew we could depend on you Kyoya!" Tamaki said as he patted Kyoya's back.

"Yup, she's boss's cousin alright," Hikaru(I think) said. Honey senpai giggled.

"She's really cute though!" I turned red at his comment. Quickly glancing down, I felt even more uncomfortable than before.

"Ah! D-don't call me cute!" Honey senpai giggled, then snuggled a bunny doll close to him.

"We should start going back to my place, I'm sure you've had a long day," my cousin said.

"Uh huh..." I could still feel the stares of everyone on me; I shifted uncomfortably.

"Could you guys not look at me..." I fiddled with my thumbs, still averting eye-contact with everyone else.

"Aww, she's shy." One twin snaked his arm around my waist.

"Isn't that just so adorable?" Another twin wrapped his arm around me. Alarmed, and before they could started playing with my pigtails, I freaked out.

"Ah! W-what?" I jerked away from them like a cat who got splashed with water, and retreated behind Tamaki.

"D-don't just harass me like that!" I pointed a shaky finger at the two boys. They grinned mischievously.

"But you like it when we bother you, right?" They said in perfect sync. Face cherry-red, I yelled:

"NO!" And hid behind Tamaki all the way.

"See Haruhi! This is how you're supposed to react whenever the twins harass you!" Tamaki then started rambling nonsense to Haruhi. Wait...she's a girl. Then it clicked: Tamaki likes Haruhi. I observed in interest, and was able to come to the conclusion that Tamaki was the dere-dere, and Haruhi was the dandere. Now that I think about it, Tamaki and his friends could all belong in a shoujo anime, or a reverse harem...Was Haruhi the main character? I watched amused, this was even better than some animes I've seen!

"What's so amusing?" Kyoya asked. He was standing right next to me, and he remained calm and collected. Darn it, he caught me smiling like a fool. I wiped the silly grin off of my face and adjusted my glasses.

"U-uh...n-nothing..." I'm a horrible liar. Kyoya caught on, but didn't say anything else.

After we all said farewell, I went with Tamaki in his limo to his house. He talked nonstop for most of the ride, explaining everything I needed to know about his friends and the Host club. At first, I was fascinated so I clung on to every word, but then he rambled on about nonsense that I didn't really care about so I zoned out. I nodded my head blankly every once in a while, and agreed to everything he said(but I wasn't listening).

When I arrived at Tamaki's mansion, I was blown away at how huge it was. I'm sure I stood there gaping like a fish for a good five minutes. He showed me around, and I was really awkward around all the servants. After touring the entire mansion, he led me to my room. Surprisingly, I found my luggage there.

"If you need anything, you can always call me or ask the servants for help!" Tamaki grinned at me happily, and like a child. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks," he then skipped away humming to himself.

My room was large, had a bathroom, and it was pink. Yay! The bare walls were soon occupied with some posters from home, and the empty, ornate drawers soon filled with all my comfy sweats, jeans, t-shirts, and sweaters. Living like a rich person might take a while to get used to; adjusting to being around people might take a while as well. I've been home-schooled my entire life, and so I don't know how to interact with kids my own age. The closest thing to a friend I had was my cat Charcoal. My heart sunk a bit, I'm gonna miss him. Father had sent him to grandma, who has three other cats. I'm sure Charcoal will have a happier life with other cats...

After unpacking, and showering, I had dinner with Tamaki and his dad downstairs. Uncle Suoh was like Tamaki, only more reserved. Still, he was very kind and friendly. It was really alien eating dinner with them, they actually talked and had normal conversations. All of the meals I had back at home was alone or in silence. My father was always very cold, and I didn't even call him "father." A pang of jealousy lingered as I watched Tamaki and his dad interact with each other.

After dinner, I excused myself to my bedroom. Even though I had planned finish a chapter of a shoujo manga called "Bunnies and Keychains," exhaustion seeped over me as soon as I crashed onto the bed. Sleepiness forced my eyelids shut, and in what seemed like seconds I lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

_**"Man's vanity is more fragile than you might think. It's easy for us to mistake shyness for coldness, and silence for indifference."-Lisa Kleypas.**_

All eyes are watching my every move. Their cold glares are stabbing into me, I can feel their eyes roving about me, judging me. I can hear their hushed voices mutter about my face, my hair. Looking down at the floor, my face heated up from shame and embarrassment. A sense of dread and loathing settled in my heart.

"Would you like to introduce yourself Miss. Fay?" The teacher, an old, bespectacled man said to me in a soft voice. Without looking up, I opened my mouth to speak, but only a rasped breath came out. Horrified, I shut it tight once more and bowed my head even lower. I bit my lower lip.

"This is my cousin, Leah!" Fortunately, Tamaki had come to my rescue.

"She's going to be staying with me for an entire year, and I know that all of you lovely princesses will treat her kindly; after all," Tamaki winked at the class.

"All you girls have hearts of gold to match your beautiful faces," he said in a prince-like voice. Multiple girls were sent squealing and blushing after hearing his words, and the sound of excited chatter or fangirling erupted across the room. I looked up and blinked in surprise; their reaction eerily resembled mine when I was reading a good manga or watching an anime show. The teacher clapped his hands to pacify the students, and I noticed a good number of boys had covered their ears in pathetic attempt to block out the squeals.

"Thank you, Tamaki. Both of you may be seated," I slightly bowed, and followed Tamaki towards the empty seats near Kyoya.

"She's seems much different from Tamaki," I heard a faint whisper from girl. That wasn't a bad thing, right? Sitting down behind Tamaki, I tried paying attention to the lesson.

I noticed several of the uniformed students stealing glances at me, as if I was a zoo animal on display. I avoided eye-contact and tried to ignore them. Most of the staring seemed to be out of curiosity. The uniform I was wearing was disappointing. I was expecting an adorable sailor-type of uniform. In almost all the animes I've watched, all the uniforms were so youthful and cute! The dresses for Ouran looked like they were made out of bananas or balloons. If the uniforms were trying to go for a "Lolita" look, it failed ever so miserably. Unfortunately for me, I had blonde hair that made me look even more weird while wearing the uniform. I tied up my long hair into a messy top bun today, and I wore my usual, red glasses.

The teacher droned on and on, and even though I was fluent in Japanese it wasn't my first language so keeping up was a bit difficult. I took copious notes, and my hand felt broken by the time I was done. The bell screamed across the school, telling us that it was lunchtime. Students emptied out into the hallways, but Tamaki turned around to talk to me.

"So, how do you like Ouran so far?" He smiled at me.

"It's...overwhelming." If Tamaki hadn't been in all of my classes, I would've gotten hopelessly lost and would've had to ask people for directions; that would've been a nightmare.

"Understandable, you've been home schooled your entire life," Kyoya said as he turned towards us. I nodded quietly, before listening to Tamaki ramble about me having to sit with him at lunch. I stood and gathered my things, only half-listening. Tamaki talked _a lot_ , and there were some times when I genuinely didn't care what he was saying. I followed him out of the door, and pretended that people weren't staring at me. On our way out, a number of peers approached Tamaki and talked to him. A couple of students tried conversing with me, but I would just look down and stutter nonsense that couldn't be understood. Kyoya or Tamaki ended up having to answer for me. Looking down, I decided to space out since Tamaki seemed to have the group all under control. He was really popular; he reminded me of all the popular senpais that existed in almost every shoujo manga ever. I wasn't really a shoujo fan, I preferred shounen. Tamaki waved goodbye to the crowd, and started to walk. I followed him. One of my favorite anime series was called "Seven Kingdoms," and it was about a group of teens who all were stuck working with each other in order to complete their quests to find the mysterious amulet that could grant three wishes. Each of the teens were from one of the seven total kingdoms in the Land of Moons, and their personalities clashed with one another.

I should watch some more of the anime when I got home, I'm already exhausted. Shutting out the noise that surrounded me, I imagined what my favorite anime character, Night, would have done if he was in the same situation as I was. He was the careless, cool, but kind've childish character in "Seven Kingdoms."

 _With the collars of his shirt standing up, he sauntered into the classroom wearing a nonchalant expression on his face. Before the old teacher could say anything, he opened his mouth and gazed at the classroom with his piercing blue eyes._

 _"Yeah hi, name's Night, I'm new, blah blah blah," he said with a bored tone. Whispers erupted across the room, most of them being about how good-looking he was or how he had odd-colored hair. And before the teacher could ask him to sit down, he already started making his way towards an empty seat at the back, hands shoved into his pants pockets. He coolly disregarded the stares he was getting, and he ignored all the girls who were blushing because of him. He slid into his chair and leaned back in a relaxed manner._

 _"Alright, let us begin class then," the teacher started to drone on, and Night flicked a strand of his snow-hair out of his winter eyes._

"Leah!" Tamaki shouted. I jumped and made a startled sound, resembling that of a dying duck.

"W-what?!" I frantically glanced up at Tamaki, who was frowning at me.

"You weren't listening to what I was saying!" He whined as he pouted. Turning tomato-red, I realized that I had been daydreaming the whole walk towards the lunchroom.

"S-sorry," I looked down.

"Okay! I forgive you!" I glanced up to find Tamaki smiling happily at me. I raised an eyebrow; was he bipolar or something? How did he shift his mood so quickly? Shaking my head, I concluded that Tamaki was the living, breathing embodiment every dere-dere that ever existed in the manga world.

Tamaki led us through the sea of yellow and blue uniforms, towards the cafeteria line. Lunch was expensive, but it looked really good so I decided to buy it anyway. I ordered the B lunch, mainly because of the chocolate cake that was included as dessert. Kyoya didn't really say much, and like me he just listened as Tamaki rambled about nonsense. Multiple girls and boys openly stared at me. Although I was being gawked at the entire day, I still felt uncomfortable and embarrassed whenever I caught someone's eyes on me. I mindlessly followed Tamaki as he led us to a table where his friends that I met yesterday sat.

"Leah-chan! It's good to see you again! Is your head feeling better?" Honey senpai giggled cutely while shoving a piece of cake into his mouth. He had the bunny doll from yesterday. Ah, he must be the Boy Lolita and the one with the sugar-tooth. The tall figure that sat next to him only looked at me as acknowledgement. The expression he wore on his face was blank, so I didn't find it threatening.

"Yes..." I looked at Tamaki; he had placed his tray down and was starting to adjust himself into his seat. Kyoya had already sat down at the edge of the table and was about to open a laptop that he had been carrying. I sat down; my seat was directly across from the blonde-haired cake-eater and the stoic-faced Kuudere.

"I bet your first day was a little overwhelming," glancing at the speaker, I found Haruhi smiling at me. Seeing her smile calmed me. I kinda smiled back at her; but, it might've looked like a grimace.

"Yeah, it was," I watched her as she took a bite of her food. Her eyes sparkled a teensy bit, and she looked happier. My eyes widened a bit. Huh, she was the foodie. I glanced at Honey senpai, whose cake was gone. He had been eating a large one too! It was about three layers, and yet it simply vanished after I looked away for just a couple of seconds. Mouth dropping, I glanced at his empty plate, then back and him, then back at the plate again.

"I love cake!" His voice was muffled, and his cheeks were round and stuffed. A couple of crumbs spilled out from his mouth.

"Mitsukuni," a baritone voice said. Mori senpai had grabbed a napkin, and was starting to dab at Honey senpai's face. Honey senpai just happily smiled, and continued to chew, and then swallow his mouthful of sweet cake. I then remembered that Mori had caught me once or twice yesterday and that I hadn't thanked him. But upon remembering him carrying me bridal style, my face flushed a deep shade of red.

"Um!" Ugh. I can't form words. But, I was able to grab his attention. He stared at me with his deep, brown eyes, waiting for me to say something.

"T-thank you...Uh...Yesterday...Er...Yeah..." My face heated up to around 1000 degrees after hearing how horribly stupid I sounded. A little toddler who just learned how to speak could probably form better sentences than me. I sometimes hate talking. Writing my thoughts down was so much easier. With a pen and paper, I could smoothly translate my thoughts and feelings into eloquent sentences, and clearly express what I wanted say to without any difficulty. But whenever I tried to speak, the moment I opened my mouth my words come out as a jumbled, fragmented mess.

"No problem," he said. I peeked up at his face, then quickly averted my gaze from him again. Turning my attention to my food, I created a list in my head on what to eat first.

1\. The cake.

2\. The steak.

3\. The vegetables.

Silently approving of my plan, I picked up my fork to start digging in.

"Bad Leah! You can't have dessert before the main course!" Tamaki's voice stopped me. I narrowed my eyes just the slightest. Staring straight into Tamaki's eyes, my fork continued making its way to the cake before scooping up a piece. Tamaki's violet eyes stared at me in disbelief, and without breaking my gaze I brought the piece of deliciousness closer and closer to my mouth.

"Leah!" Tamaki whined. Before he could stop me, I had opened my mouth and plopped the cake right inside. The twins, who hadn't really said anything since my arrival to the table, burst out laughing.

"She flat-out ignored you!" Breathed one twin.

"The look on Boss's face was hilarious," said the other twin. Tamaki's figure slouched, and with the look of a sad puppy he turned away from me.

"Leah ignored me! She's going through her rebellious faze," Tamaki whimpered to Kyoya.

"I'm sure she's just passive aggressive, or she might be a cake enthusiast like Honey senpai," he answered without looking up from his laptop. Kyoya's food was untouched, and his fingers were tapping against the keyboard at an abnormally fast pace.

"You eat your desserts first?" Asked Haruhi curiously. I nodded, and continued enjoying my chocolate cake. A twinkling giggle escaped from Honey senpai's lips.

The rest of lunch was loud and chaotic, as I expected. Tamaki kept on fretting over Haruhi and the twins kept on purposely working him up. I watched quietly in amusement. It was a relief for me that the Host members didn't talk to me that much, minus Haruhi and Honey senpai. As for Mori senpai, I appreciated his quietness. I have always been partial towards the Kuuderes or Tsunderes in anime, and so I took a strong liking to him. Out of all of Tamaki's friends, I fancied Mori senpai the most. I liked Honey senpai too of course: we got along very well. I listened attentively when he talked about cake. Cake will never cease to fascinate me. I could listen to anyone's rambling for days if it was about cake or anime; I find myself engrossed in topics that interest me. However, as time crawled by, I found more and more of my energy being drained from me. All the noise, all these crowded areas and non-stop chatter, it was too much. My brain started to shut down a bit, and my mind entered into a very dull, robot-like mode. I nodded blankly every once in a while as Honey senpai talked, and exhaustion started to crash over me.

"Leah, you haven't forgotten that you will join the Host club, right?" Tamaki asked abruptly.

"Huh?" Turning my head, I stared at him blankly.

"You weren't listening to what I was saying yesterday!" He complained in childish voice.

"Well sorry...it was hard focusing after riding on a plane for hours and hitting my head," I grumbled in a low voice. Tamaki heard though, and he gasped.

"You're right! How inconsiderate of me! I'm so sorry dear cousin, I promise to treat you better!" With fat tears rolling down his cheeks, Tamaki tightly hugged me and my face was buried into his chest. Not being able to breathe and my glasses being painfully pushed up against my face, I tried to pull myself out of his grasp, but he stood up and started spinning me around.

"Leah I promise I'll be the best cousin in the woooooorrrrrrld!" My legs were flying out, and the entire world was spinning. Feeling as if I was going to throw up, I tried calling for help in a feeble voice.

"H-help me!" I squeaked out desperately. A pair of arms that came out from nowhere suddenly got a hold of me and lifted my up into the air. It took a moment to adjust to the sudden brightness, but after looking down I saw that Mori senpai was holding me up like Simba. Cheeks burning, I averted my gaze.

"Um...T-thanks..." my voice sounded as awkward as I felt. With an indifferent expression still etched onto his good-looking face, he simply put me down as if I was child or a doll. Afterwards, we all continued eating lunch in peace(kind've...)

 _Later..._

"N-no! I-I'm not wearing that!" I pointed shakily at the costume the twins held up in front of me.

"Come on, now that you're part of the Host club you have to wear what we tell you to," they said in perfect sync.

"I never said that I was joining!" I cried out.

"It's not like you really have a choice in the matter Miss Fay; Tamaki or your father will force you to be in the Host club anyway. Also, many of the students would like to meet you. After all, you are the cousin of the founder and king of the club. People will naturally be curious of who you are and would want to meet you. " Kyoya adjusted his glasses like an anime character, and the light reflected off of them. The glare from his glasses made it impossible to see his eyes. I slightly frowned. If he was so rich, how come he didn't get the slightly-more-expensive non-glare glasses?

"B-but-"

"No buts Leah! Your father made me promise to him when he called me yesterday that I will help you overcome your extreme shyness. Wearing a costume and trying to be social will help with that since it would get you used to attention," Tamaki wagged a finger at me.

"My father...called you?" I asked in small voice.

"Yes he did, he must be a very caring father if he asks me to look after you!" Tamaki said as he grinned. Caring, right. He didn't even take me to the airport when I left; he didn't answer the text message that I sent him after I got off the plane. He didn't even say goodbye or look at me when I walked out of the door.

"Caring..." I echoed his words.

"Now, go ahead and change into your costume. Don't feel so shy about it, we're all going to be wearing one too so you won't be alone!" Removing the dress from the grasps of the Hitachiins, Tamaki shoved it into my arms and ushered me into the changing room.

"I'm sure you will look adorable!" He called out to me as he walked away. Sighing, I closed the curtain door and started to change.

The costume was lacy and frilly. I stared at the tight corset that hugged my waist, and the poofy skirt that flowed out from behind me. The dress was Victorian-styled, but I looked like a fancier version of Cinderella in it. The dress was sky-blue and white, with many frills and bows attached. My nerd glasses looked strange with the attire, but my bun fit in just perfectly. Unfortunately, I needed to keep my glasses on if I didn't want to accidentally run into anything.

"Are you done changing?" One of twins called out.

"Yeah, we want to see!" Said the other twin with the higher voice.

"I...I look funny..." I grumbled through the curtain.

"Just come out," one twin said.

"Yeah, I bet it won't be that bad," finished the other twin. Hesitantly pulling back the curtains, I stepped out from the changing room and stood in front of the twins who eyed me up and down, analyzing my attire.

"Blue is definitely your color, but you're gonna need to lose the glasses," they said in perfect sync. They reached out their hands towards my face, and before I could process what was going on, the Hitachiins had snatched my glasses.

"I can't see anything without my glasses!" I tried to retrieve them, but the twins held up their arms above their heads. My spectacles were being held by the temples, each twin holding one leg in each hand. Curse my shortness. I was a head shorter than both of the gingers even though I was older by one year. Besides the twins, everything else in the room was just one blur of color. The other hosts and furniture in the background were just a vague, abstract shapes. One fuzzy outline of a boy walked towards me.

"Leah darling! You look absolutely adorable!" Immediately recognizing the voice of my flamboyant cousin, I squinted my eyes a tad bit to thinking that I would be able to see better. My eyes didn't focus very well, but soon enough Tamaki appeared before me as a clear image. He was dressed in a Victorian-styled gentlemen get-up; a top hat idly sat on my cousin's golden locks, and in one hand he carried a cane in a relaxed manner. His costume's color scheme matched mine: sky-blue and white. One of his arms slung over my shoulder.

"I wouldn't expect my cousin to look any less appealing! But you won't be as beautiful as moi," he said. How narcissistic.

"You look super cute Leah-chan!" Honey senpai bounced in front of me, wearing a similar attire to Tamaki's (only it had splashes of cream and bubble-gum pink).

"Merci-I mean arigato!" I've been speaking too much Japanese in one day. He didn't notice my error, and merely giggled as he skipped towards a table with cake awaiting him.

"Now, when the guests come, I want you to smile and be as polite as possible!" Tamaki started leading me towards a seat, his arm still resting on my shoulders.

"I noticed many girls were curious about you today, and the Host club would be a great opportunity to try and befriend others!" I had to actually talk to people? No thank you...Being a dress up doll was already bad enough. A faint throbbing commenced in my head. I had remembered to take the pain medication in the morning, but I had to take it one more time after dinner.

"Couldn't I just be part of someone else's act?" I grumbled in a low voice.

"If you don't feel comfortable having your own individual act, then I don't see a problem in you joining either Haruhi's or Honey senpai's act," Kyoya's voice coolly said from behind me.

"That sounds better..." brushing Tamaki's arm off of me, I squinted around the room, looking for any familiar shapes that could belong to either Mori or Honey senpai. I caught sight of small, blurry shape that resembled Honey senpai and I followed it. Unfortunately, I tripped on the long dress and started falling forward.

"Eeeepp!" I let out a pathetic squeak, sounding like a mouse. Closing my eyes and bracing myself for a painful fall, an arm caught me by the waist. Looking up, I found none other than Mori senpai looking down at me. My face turned crimson, and I quickly stood and recomposed myself.

"You're catching me a lot, huh?" I laughed nervously as I looked at the ground. He grunted, and walked away. I followed him to a table, where I found Honey senpai enjoying some strawberry cake. Well, I was walking in the completely opposite direction. How embarrassing.

When the Host club started, it was a nightmare. Everyone was looking at me, talking to me, judging me.

"So how long have you known Tamaki?" Asked one of Mori/Honey's customers.

"Um...since yesterday," I muttered as I stared at the cake in front of me. I only looked at it however, I forbid myself from eating too much sweets in public; I already had one piece of cake for lunch. If I consumed more and became hyper, it'd be so embarrassing...

"Oh?" I didn't look up, but I continued to study the vanilla, strawberry cake that sat in front of me as if it was the most interesting thing the world.

"I like your dress," the long-haired girl said softly.

"T-thank you..." I replied back quietly. If Honey senpai hadn't spoken up, there would've been a long, awkward silence with me not knowing what to say next.

"Let's dig in! Cake isn't going to eat itself!" He gave his customers a closed-eye smile, and started stuffing his tiny face with a surprisingly huge amount of cake.

Many of my other conversations were just like the first one. I averted eye-contact, I mumbled and grumbled, and all of my answers were short and uninteresting. Mori senpai was popular even though he was almost always silent; the reason for this was because he and Honey senpai were total opposites and it attracted the attention of the ladies to them. Also, Mori was obviously a kuudere character, and there's a lot of girls who were partial to a male with such personality. But me...I was more of dandere, and while some boys may be attracted to the anime girl with a dandere personality, the shy girls who swarmed near Mori and Honey senpai were not. My moe level wasn't high enough for girls to fangirl over me saying how "cute" I was. Yes, I looked childish, but not to the extent Honey senpai did. I was the average type of "baby-face," not the kawaii type of "baby-face" Honey senpai was; no one could rival against him on being adorable. So in other words, my "shy" act wasn't cute enough and therefore did not appeal much to the customers at all.

I hated this dress. It drew the unwanted attention of everyone on me. I could practically hear the girls thinking: "I could probably pull that dress off much better than her, I have the curves for it but she doesn't." My cheeks never stopped burning the entire time, and seeing how uncomfortable I was, Honey senpai spent almost the whole time distracting the ladies' attention away from me. I was grateful of course, but with every passing second I wanted to rip off the tight doll clothes that the twins and my cousin had imposed on me. With every glance from someone, I wanted to scream and run away, hide in my dark room and never come out again.

I was more than relieved when the Host club closed. As soon as the last girl left and the huge, double doors closed, I made my way towards the changing room.

"So, what do you think about-" I walked past Tamaki, ignoring him.

"Rude," said the twins in perfect sync. Ignoring them as well, I entered the curtained compartment and started undressing. My uniform was right where I left it, crumpled on the ground. After I was done, I could hear the muffled voices of Tamaki and the other discussing something. I drew back the curtain and walked towards the group of blurry shapes standing together.

"Here," I held out the dress to one of the twins, and held out my other hand. They raised an eyebrow questionably.

"Why are you holding out your hand?" They asked.

"You took my glasses earlier!" I glared at them just a bit. They only looked at each other in confusion, and they shrugged their shoulders.

"We don't remember where we put it," they said in unison. Something inside me snapped, and I thrust the dress into their arms, causing them to stumble back a bit.

"I can't see anything without them! " My voice wavered just the slightest.

"Don't cry Leah-chan, I'm sure we'll find them," said Honey senpai as he looked at me with concern.

"I'm not crying!" I said a little louder than I meant to. He flinched a little bit, and I felt a pang of guilt. Breathing in, I calmed down a little bit, and said in a lower voice,

"I'm sorry for yelling, goodnight," and quickly walked out of the room. Tamaki said something to the others, but he soon caught up to me at the stairs.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Tamaki was still in his costume. As I walked down the stairs, my gaze remained fixed on the ground ahead of me.

"Nothing," I said in a flat tone.

"Something's upset you, and you're a bad liar," his voice sounded reassuring, and soft. Shaking my head, I quickened my pace so that I could get away from him.

"I'll wait for you in the limo, just change and hurry up," I said. After seeing that he didn't catch up with me, I assumed he did as I asked him to.

The limo was conveniently waiting right outside, and because it was white it was easy to spot.

"Miss Fay," the old chauffeur opened the door for me.

"Oh...thank you..." I said quietly as I slightly bowed. After I entered and sat down, he closed the door and continued to stand outside, waiting for Tamaki to arrive. I closed my eyes and recounted one of my favorite scene from "Seven Kingdoms," when Night's feelings for Sovanna finally surface. They were my OTP, I ship that I hope will be canon, and a ship that I cannot get off of.

 _Night, a white-haired boy, had slept in again, and the captain of the ship sent his daughter Sovanna to wake him up. Her dark, chocolate curls bounced with each step she took, and her warm, caramel skin made her dress appear even whiter._

 _"Hey, it's time for you to wake up," she said in a bored tone as she stared at a head full of messy hair. Night did not stir. She leaned over and spoke up a bit louder in his ear._

 _"Hey!" Night's eyes squeezed together even tighter, but he still didn't move. After pondering on what to do next, an idea popped into Sovanna's head._

 _"They're serving chocolate muffins in the kitchen," she said._

 _"REALLY?" Night shot right up,his blue eyes glinting with hope. Sleepiness seemed to have exited his body the instant she said "chocolate muffins," and other than his messy hair, it seemed as if the boy had been awake for hours._

 _"No. Now get up," Sovanna rolled her pretty brown eyes, and started walking out of Night's room._

 _"Awww!" Whining like a child, he threw the covers over his head and laid back down again._

 _"I'm not getting up until you promise me that one day you'll convince your dad to serve chocolate muffins for breakfast," he pouted. Sighing, Sovanna turned around to face him and crossed her arms._

 _"Only if you get up on time every morning from now own," she sighed._

 _"Fiiiinnnne, I promise," sitting up, he held out his pinkie finger for her to take. She took his pinkie with hers, and Night turned a little red after seeing that they were touching._

"I'm back!" I jumped a bit after hearing the other limo door suddenly lurched open, and Tamaki entering to sit next to me.

"Did you miss me while I was gone?" He beamed at me cheerfully, and the chauffeur closed Tamaki's door and entered into the driver's seat.

"Not really..." I said as I turned my attention to the window.

"So mean!" Tamaki whined. Now that I think about it, both the anime character Night and Tamaki were similar in some ways. For example, they were both ridiculously attractive, they were childish, and both seem to love cute, childish girls. True, Haruhi looked like a boy, but that didn't change the fact that she had a baby-face and therefore could pass off as a middle school student if she wanted to.

The limo started to drive away from the pink, girly school, and Tamaki started talking.

"Today was a rough day for you, but I'm sure things will be better tomorrow," he gave me a warm smile that I didn't return.

"It's okay if they aren't, I'm okay with not having any friends," I said as I looked at my shoes.

"What are you talking about! Of course you won't be okay! You've been alone your entire life, and as your cousin I promise you that I'll help you get more friends." Although I knew he meant well, I couldn't help but feel annoyed after hearing his words. I didn't want to talk to more people; it was too painful for me to do so. Couldn't he take a hint?

"It's okay Tamaki, really...I'd feel much more comfortable if I didn't have to go to the Host club...I could always just go home early-"

"Nonsense! You are going to stay with the Host club and that is final. Our duty is to make all young women happy, and you my dear, do not look very happy." I blinked a bit.

"I am happy! I just happen to like being alone, that's all! And What are you talking about?!" I said defiantly. Tamaki wore a serious expression on his face, which was very different from the other cheerful expressions he usually wore.

"You haven't smiled much since we've met, and I find that to be very worrisome," genuine concern laced Tamaki's features.

"T-that's because I've been exhausted! I smile plenty when I'm watching anime!" I sputtered. Tamaki wore a shocked expression on his face, and he backed away from me to the farthest corner of the limo.

"Y-you're an O-o-otaku?" Fear was present in his eyes, and I narrowed my eyes just the slightest.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" I said in a menacing voice. This boy better not be insulting anime, if he was, I would break every skinny limb on his lanky body. Well, _if_ I could; I have the strength of a French fry so I don't think I'd be able to break them very well...

"O-of course not! B-but-"

"I like anime, and if you can't accept that then you're not my friend," I crossed my arms. Tamaki's usual grin reappeared.

"So we _are_ friends! Oh I'm so happy!" Changing moods suddenly, Tamaki gathered my into his arms and he started rubbing his cheek on the top of my head as if I was a teddy bear meant for cuddling. What a strange cousin I have...

The rest of the limo ride was loud as I expected. We ate dinner by ourselves since Uncle Suoh had some work he had to finish. Surprisingly, Tamaki helped me unpack more of my belongings; I had expected him to be someone who got his maids and butlers to do everything for him. I rambled to _him_ instead when we unpacked as I explained to him which anime characters belonged to which anime. I rambled the most about Night and Sovanna, my OTP(One True Pairing). I explained what an OTP was to Tamaki when he asked. He was surprisingly a good listener, and I liked him a lot more after. When everything was unpacked, my room was almost identical to my old one. Figurines were everywhere, and posters were plastered onto every available space on the walls. I had even arranged some Manga books in alphabetical order, as usual. After bidding me goodnight, Tamaki left my room. I showered, and watched around three hours of anime non-stop on my pink laptop since I was unable to watch any these last couple of days. I know, I have bad sleep habits, but doesn't everyone? I went to bed around three, knowing that I was going to regret it the next day but not caring. The instant my head hit the pillow, I had a blacked out.


End file.
